You Are NOT The Father!

Raw certainly has plenty of momentum on its side right now and even a kind of underwhelming pay-per-view like Clash of Champions cannot slow it down. Many questions are left to answer tonight, and we are sure to get them. We also have the finals of the King of the Ring and that has produced some tremendous matches. Let us see what Raw brought to the table this week.

Seth Rollins In-Ring

Seth Rollins came out to kick off Raw and he talked about his matches from Clash of Champions. He lost one title but retained the other so it looked like he would come out looking good. That was until the Fiend showed up and took him out on the stage. Seth went on to talk about the attack when the Firefly Fun House theme played, and Bray Wyatt appeared on the tron. Bray did his thing and to be honest, most of this grade goes to Bray because he just owns every segment. I loved the extra touch of having the graphics upside-down after Bray appeared because that just shows how his power is growing.

Tag Team Summit

Prior to the tag team summit, Braun Strowman said that someone would “get these hands” so we all knew what would happen here. RooDolph and the Revival came out to celebrate their title wins and it was nice to see Roode get some mic time. He has been criminally underutilized so this may be the thing he needs to be relevant again. Like I mentioned, it was predictable that Braun would come out and he did. He cleared the ring of everybody and looked dominant in all the carnage.

Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss Backstage

I love the chemistry between Bliss and Cross and they have really gelled as a team. They bragged about retaining the titles at Clash of Champions and talked about how they would beat Bayley and Sasha Banks later on. Nice and short segment from these two and I really do love their growing friendship.

The OC vs Cedric Alexander & The Viking Raiders

I cannot say enough how much I enjoy that the Viking Raiders are not squashing local talent. It was about time they moved on and faced real tag teams/, so this is long overdue. It is a random grouping with them and Cedric, but it makes sense since they both have beef with the OC. Speaking of Cedric, I really loved his symbiote Spiderman inspired gear for the night and maybe that is a sign he will start showing a little but more of an edge. Onto the match and this was a lot of fun and there was great back and forth action throughout. The Raiders got to show their stuff and not have it be under the umbrella of a squash match. The crowd got behind them too because they were doing moves on a credible threat and not local talent. Let me preface this by saying I am not against squash matches but I am against their overstayed welcome. Fun match with a lot of great spots and AJ got the victory by pinning Cedric once again. I don’t know why Cedric keeps eating losses to AJ but I hope it is to build him as an underdog so when he does beat AJ, it will get a massive pop.

R-Truth & The Mayor of Knox County

It was so good to see Glenn Jacobs again and he and Truth had some great comedic timing with one another. It seems like with every 24/7 Championship segment, Truth finds a new way to get Carmella to crack. It reminds me of when the late Chris Farley would be on SNL and he would always try to get David Spade to crack. Really fun stuff between these two as Jacobs showed Truth around and this wouldn’t be the last time we see them.

Baron Corbin vs Chad Gable

In my opinion, this was the best Baron Corbin match we have had to date, and he showed all the haters that he deserves his spot in the company. We all know that Gable is a tremendous wrestler and he would have no problem bringing it in this match, but Corbin did just as much to make his match amazing. No words can do this match justice because this is one of the best Raw matches for 2019. Also, this was not a case of Gable “carrying” Corbin because Corbin stepped it up here and showed all his skills. This was a great back and forth match and told an awesome story in the ring. It looked like Gable would make Corbin tap but Corbin would hold out and hit Gable with the End of Days to become the King of the Ring winner. This was an awesome match and all hail King Corbin!

Gender Reveal Party

The Street Profits were hosting a gender reveal party for Maria and Mike Kanellis and we would all find out if they were having a boy or a girl. Montez introduced Maria and she revealed that she is having a boy. Maria then didn’t pass on the chance to belittle Mike by telling him that Ricochet was the father of her baby. Mike slapped him and challenged him to a match and Ricochet followed him out to the ring. The best part of this segment was that Dawkins was glad he wasn’t revealed as the father and Montez’s reaction to it. They then let out their inner Vince Russo by suggesting various pole matches and this segment was hilarious.

Mike Kanellis vs Ricochet

As far as matches goes, this was about as quick as you expected it to be. Ricochet reluctantly came out to face Mike and he made short work of him. The best part about this match was how much fun commentary was having with the whole situation.

Maria Kanellis and the Baby Daddy?

Maria came out after the match and belittled Mike some more and said she has been doing all this to make a man out of Mike. I love how much utter slime Maria is and I was surprised that Rusev came out. He has slimmed down quite a bit and looked to be in fantastic shape. Mike got on the mic to try and talk Rusev out of attacking him, but it wouldn’t work. Rusev would beat Mike down and then throw him back into the ring and make quick work of him in a match. I have no idea where WWE is going with this, but I am ready to see where it goes. Also, was it just me or when they did the close up of Rusev with his moustache, did anybody else see a Rick Rude resemblance circa the DX era?

R-Truth & Glenn Jacobs Part 2

Once again, such great comedy between these two and I love the cluelessness that Truth brings. Jacobs plays the straight man so well and I loved every bit of this. They were at the football stadium for the University of Tennessee and Jacobs introduced a man that would be revealed to be a referee. Truth ran into the goal post and Jacobs would pin him to become the first elected official to be 24/7 Champion.

Rey Mysterio vs Cesaro

Cesaro tried to cut a promo prior to this match but sadly it just didn’t work. His promo fell really flat and it was the weakest one he has given in some time. The match itself was fine but these two have faced each other in the past and I feel like the previous encounters were better than this one. The match was fine, but it was hard to get into it after that bad promo. Also, what was with Cesaro’s new ring gear because it felt a bit off to me. Rey would pick up the win here and continue on his quest to prove that he still can go in the ring.

AOP Vignette

Now this hype video had me very intrigued in AOP. Both men spoke in their native tongues and explained why they haven’t been on television in months. They explained that nobody wants to face them because they are too dominant in the ring. This felt like a different version of what they were doing with Aleister and I was intrigued by this. I think a team like AOP is needed for the tag division and they can be big if they are booked right. This whole thing left me intrigued and I wonder what the plans are for them.

Sasha Banks & Bayley vs Nikki Cross & Alexa Bliss

I really have enjoyed the team of Nikki and Alexa, so it is nice to see them in more of a face role. It feels like Nikki’s kindness is rubbing off a bit on Alexa. Bayley is continuing her turn to the dark side and it is clear that the more time she is spending with Sasha, the more heelish she becomes. A lot of the mannerisms Bayley has been known for are still there, but you can see a more selfish approach to them. There was some good back and forth throughout this match and Alexa would be taken out of the equation with a knee injury. This led to Nikki getting a chance to really shine by having to go the rest of the match on her own. The numbers would be too much as Sasha would pick up the win for her team. Sasha then grabbed a chair to use on Nikki when Becky Lynch would come out for the save with a chair of her own. Bayley then grabbed a chair and Charlotte Flair would come down to even the odds. Charlotte took out Bayley and that left Becky to take on Sasha and stand tall with Charlotte at the end.

Sasha Banks Backstage & Becky Lynch Backstage

I decided to lump these two segments together because they really do go with one another. Sasha was backstage and talked about how she wanted another shot at Becky and challenged her to a match at Hell in a Cell. Becky didn’t take long to reply, and she is more than willing to do the rematch but there is a catch. The match will have to take place inside Hell in a Cell, and I cannot wait for that.

R-Truth & Glenn Jacobs Part 3

Glenn Jacobs came out of his limo outside the arena and Truth was on top of it the whole journey. Truth then rolled him up to regain the 24/7 Championship. Jacobs then grabbed Truth by the throat for a chokeslam, but Truth was able to talk his way out of losing his title again. Really great stuff from both men throughout Raw.

Lacey Evans vs Dana Brooke

I am going to be honest here and say that I completely forgot about this match ever happening. This is a match that felt like it belonged on Main Event and not deep in the third hour. It felt so random and the ring work was fine enough, but I just had no interest in it. The worst part is that it was used to further this Lacey/Natalya feud and I have to ask why? I see no real reason for this feud to continue and maybe it should be something left for Main Event. Really the only way to describe this is with one word, SKIP!

Seth Rollins vs Robert Roode

How nice it is to see Robert Roode in the main event slot, and he is facing the top champion on Raw. I noticed how much time was left for the match so I had an inkling something would happen, and boy did it but more on that in a bit. Seth can have a good match with just about anybody and this was turning out to be a solid one here. It makes me wonder what kind of feud we could have with these two if Roode was booked as the man he was in NXT. Really solid work between these two and it looked like Seth would pick up the win when Dolph would break up the pin and cause the DQ. Seth was doing a good job fighting him off when the OC would come down to turn the odds against him. They did a good job beating him down when Kane would make a surprise appearance to clear the ring. Kane was going for his traditional call for the flames on the ring posts when the Fiends eerie sound effects hit, and he would teleport into the ring. Kane turned to try and attack the Fiend, but Bray locked him in the Mandible Claw and would take him out with it. Bray then crawled towards Seth and stared him down while Seth was laying on the bottom rope and turnbuckle. The Firefly Fun House intro then played, and it was distorted and flipping upside-down. The Fiend closed out Raw and Clash of Champions and left both shows with a creepy note and I loved it.

Final Statement

This was a darn good episode of Raw following Clash of Champions and really did a good job in progressing some storylines. The highlights had to be the Fiend and Seth story, the 24/7 Championship, the Mike/Maria saga and the stellar match between Baron Corbin and Chad Gable. The only real low point was the Lacey/Dana match because I have no idea why they are continuing with the Lacey/Natalya feud. Overall, this was a really solid episode of Raw and the momentum is riding high for the flagship show of WWE. I am Sovereign S.A.M. and I will see you next week for another Sovereign Statement.

Finally the WWE has officially announced that the Raw Women’s Championship Triple Threat Match will be the main event at WrestleMania. The WWE has built this match between Ronda Rousey, Charlotte Flair, and Becky Lynch […]